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Deathwish – Demon Preacher (Reissue) (Dissonance Productions)

These Brighton based thrashers should have gone on too much bigger and brighter things in the international metal scene. Emerging from, and starting to make an impact at the tail end of the thrash movement, Demon Preacher is an album that should be resting happily in every slam happy maniacs record collection. Endorsing a heavy, boisterous introduction, the pounding instrumental aperitif Death Procession opens the albums floodgates before hitting you head on with the thrashing title track, and the non-stop speed and precision that smash from your speakers continues unabated from thereon in. The intensity of Carrion or the doom-soaked Visions of Insanity are just part of the overall beauty of this homespun masterpiece. By the time Demon Preacher hit stores, Deathwish could easily sit amongst the premier crew of UK thrash metal bands that had already established themselves. With a production quality that matched song content and the paced cover of Sabbath’s Symptom Of The Universe, not to mention the cracking album sleeve artwork it was almost more than a music-hungry teenage metalhead like myself could ever have dreamed of back in the late eighties and I loved, and still love, this record. Wall of Lies, Prey to the Lord and Fatal Attraction still sound as potent today as they did back then! Mark Freebase